Milwaukee District / North Line

Last updated
Milwaukee District / North Line
Metra City of Woodstock in Deerfield.jpg
EMD F40PH No. 120 leads an outbound train at Deerfield
Overview
Service type Commuter rail
Current operator(s) Metra
Ridership23,257 (Avg. Weekday 2014) [1]
Annual ridership1,556,783 (2020)
Route
Start Union Station
Stops22
End Fox Lake
Distance travelled49.7 miles (80.0 km)
Technical
Track owner(s) Metra (dispatched by Canadian Pacific Railway between Rondout and A-5 junction with Milwaukee District West Line)

The Milwaukee District / North Line (MD-N) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its northern suburbs. Although Metra does not refer to any of its lines by color, the timetable accents for the Milwaukee District / North line are pale "Hiawatha Orange" in honor of the Milwaukee Road's Hiawatha passenger trains. [2]

Contents

The line utilizes the Canadian Pacific Railway's C&M Subdivision from Chicago to Rondout and Metra's Fox Lake Subdivision from Rondout to Fox Lake.

Operations

Metra is the primary user of the C&M Subdivision, with commuter services operating between Union Station and Fox Lake. As of April 2021, the public timetable shows 17 weekday departures to Chicago, with 13 beginning at Fox Lake, and 4 beginning at Lake Forest. Each weekday 17 trains depart Chicago Union Station with 4 terminating at Lake Forest and the remainder terminating at Fox Lake. Metra operates a reduced schedule on weekends, with 9 trains operating both to Chicago Union Station and Fox Lake. [3] This service is supplemented by Amtrak, whose Empire Builder and Hiawatha Service inter-city trains stop at Union Station and Glenview.

Metra began increased reverse commute service on the line on March 4, 2019. This service is part of a pilot-program funded under a two-year, public-private partnership between Metra and Lake County Partners. [4] The increased reverse commute service's status is currently unknown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

History

Before 1982, this line was operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road). When the Milwaukee Road went bankrupt, the Regional Transportation Authority took over operation of the line. By 1984, the line passed to RTA's newly created Commuter Rail Division, which rebranded as Metra in 1985. Today this service is one of several Metra routes operated by Metra crews, but trains are dispatched, under contract, by the Canadian Pacific Railway, which bought the Milwaukee Road in 1986 along with the Soo Line in 1990 and runs freight service over parts of this route.

The Milwaukee District/North Line route and Metra's track ownership diverge from the Chicago - Milwaukee - Minneapolis mainline at Rondout, Illinois and proceeds northwesterly toward Fox Lake. This secondary route, owned by Metra, was known as the Janesville Subdivision (J-Sub) of the Milwaukee Road. The mainline north of Rondout is owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) [5] through its American subsidiary Soo Line Railroad and sees Amtrak and freight traffic only. Metra service and track ownership ends at Fox Lake. The tracks beyond Fox Lake are owned by the State of Wisconsin and operated for freight service by the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad. Commuter service beyond Fox Lake, abolished in 1982, served the communities of Spring Grove, Illinois, Solon Mills, Illinois, Zenda, Wisconsin, and Walworth, Wisconsin. [6]

Until 1984, there was a stop in Rondout. The station building itself was demolished in the mid-1960s. The station was located at Rondout Junction, where the line crosses the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway's tracks at a diamond junction. [7] Before 1982, service ran as far north as Walworth, Wisconsin.

Metra has conducted studies on extending the Milwaukee District / North Line to Richmond, Illinois, and constructing a second branch, running along the Canadian Pacific main line from Rondout north to Wadsworth. However, there are not any plans to construct the extension. [8]

Ridership

Between 2014 and 2019, annual ridership declined from 7,237,913 to 6,549,143, an overall decline of 9.5%. [9] [10] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 1,556,783 passengers in 2020. [11]

1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
5,000,000
6,000,000
7,000,000
8,000,000
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020

Stations

StateZoneLocationStationConnections and notes
WI   Walworth WalworthClosed October 1, 1982
Zenda ZendaClosed October 1, 1982
IL Richmond RichmondProposed new stop[ citation needed ]
Solon Mills Solon MillsClosed October 1, 1982
Spring Grove Spring GroveClosed October 1, 1982
J Fox Lake Fox Lake Pace: 570, 806
Ingleside Ingleside Pace: 570
Long Lake Wilson Road Closed 1984 [12]
Long Lake
I Round Lake Round Lake Pace: 570
Grayslake Grayslake Pace: 570
H Libertyville Prairie Crossing Metra: North Central Service
Libertyville
G Rondout Rondout Closed 1984 [12]
F Lake Forest Lake Forest
E Deerfield Deerfield Pace: 471, 632
Lake Cook Road Pace: 626, 627, 631, 632, 633, 634, 635
Northbrook Northbrook Pace: 422
Techny TechnyClosed
D Glenview North Glenview Pace: 423, 623
Glenview Amtrak: Empire Builder , Hiawatha Service
Pace: 210, 422, 423
Golf Golf Pace: 208, 210
C Morton Grove Morton Grove Pace: 210, 250
Chicago Edgebrook CTA Bus: 84, 85A
Pace: 225, 226
Forest Glen CTA Bus: 92
B Mayfair Chicago "L": Blue Line (at Montrose)
CTA Bus: 54, 54A, 78
Grayland CTA Bus: 56, 152
Healy CTA Bus: 53, 74
A Western Avenue Metra: Milwaukee District / West Line, North Central Service
CTA Bus: 49, X49, 65
Union Station Amtrak (long-distance): California Zephyr , Capitol Limited , Cardinal , City of New Orleans , Empire Builder , Lake Shore Limited , Southwest Chief , Texas Eagle
Amtrak (intercity): Blue Water , Hiawatha Service , Illini and Saluki, Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, Lincoln Service , Pere Marquette , Wolverine
Metra: BNSF Railway, Milwaukee District / West Line, North Central Service, Heritage Corridor, SouthWest Service
Chicago "L": Blue Line (at Clinton), Brown, Orange, Pink, Purple lines (at Quincy)
CTA Bus: 1, 7, J14, 19, 28, 56, 60, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 151, 156, 157, 192
Pace: 755
Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach: Chicago-Madison and Chicago-Rockford (Van Galder), Chicago-Louisville (Greyhound)

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<i>Hiawatha Service</i> Amtrak service between Chicago, IL and Milwaukee, WI

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Union Pacific / North Line

The Union Pacific / North Line (UP-N) is a Metra line in the Chicago metropolitan area. It runs between Ogilvie Transportation Center and Kenosha, Wisconsin; however, most trains terminate in Waukegan, Illinois. Although Metra owns the rolling stock, the trains are operated and dispatched by the Union Pacific Railroad. This line was previously operated by the Chicago & North Western Railway before its merger with Union Pacific, and was called the Chicago and North Western Milwaukee Division and then the Chicago & North Western/North Line before the C&NW was absorbed by Union Pacific in April 1995. It is the only Metra line that travels outside Illinois.

Union Pacific / West Line

The Union Pacific West Line (UP-W) is a Metra commuter rail line operated by Union Pacific Railroad in Chicago, Illinois and its western suburbs. Metra does not refer to its lines by particular colors, but the timetable accents for the Union Pacific/West line are "Kate Shelley Rose" pink, honoring an Iowa woman who saved a Chicago & North Western Railway train from disaster in 1881. Yellow and green were already selected for the Union Pacific North and Northwest lines respectively, so pink was chosen for this line. Therefore, the UP-W is the only Metra line that uses a color to honor a person instead of a fallen flag railroad. In April 2013 the public timetable shows 30 trains leaving Chicago each weekday, of which 22 run to Elburn. Of the 8 trains on weekdays that do not run through to Elburn, 4 terminate at Elmhurst, 2 at Geneva, 1 at West Chicago, and 1 at La Fox. All weekend trains run through to Elburn. Until 2006, all Metra trains on this line terminated at Geneva. The line runs as part of the Union Pacific Railroad's Geneva Subdivision The line was once known as the Chicago & Northwestern/West Line until UP took over the C&NW in 1995.

Union Pacific / Northwest Line

The Union Pacific / Northwest Line (UP-NW) is a commuter rail line provided by Metra and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad in Chicago, Illinois and its surrounding suburbs. While Metra does not refer to any of its lines by colors, the timetable accents for the Union Pacific/Northwest line are bright "Viking Yellow," honoring the Chicago & North Western Railway's Viking passenger train.

BNSF Railway (Metra)

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North Central Service

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Milwaukee District / West Line

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SouthWest Service

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Rondout, Illinois Unincorporated community in Illinois, United States

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Kenosha station

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Fox Lake station

Fox Lake is a station on Metra's Milwaukee District/North Line in Fox Lake, Illinois. The station is located on Nippersink Boulevard at Grand Avenue, is 49.7 miles (80.0 km) away from Union Station, the southern terminus of the line, and serves commuters from Fox Lake to Downtown Chicago. The station is the northern terminus of the Milwaukee District/North Line. As of 2018, Fox Lake is the 141st busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 322 weekday boardings. Until 1982 commuter trains continued to Walworth, Wisconsin and until the creation of Amtrak in 1971, inter-city trains like the Varsity and the Sioux, both operated by the Milwaukee Road, connected Fox Lake with Janesville, Madison, and Rapid City.

Lake Forest station (Milwaukee District)

Lake Forest is a railroad station in Lake Forest, Illinois, United States served by Metra's Milwaukee District/North Line. Platform 1 is where outbound trains board, and platform 2 is where inbound trains board. The station is located on 10205 North Waukegan Road, and is 28.4 miles (45.7 km) away from Union Station, the southern terminus of the line,. In Metra's zone-based fare system, Lake Forest is in zone F. As of 2018, Lake Forest is the 82nd busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 607 weekday boardings.

C&M Subdivision

The Chicago and Milwaukee Subdivision is a 85.5-mile (137.6 km) railway line running between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway through its primary United States subsidiary, the Soo Line Railroad. This had previously been owned by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, commonly known as the Milwaukee Road. It carries Amtrak's Empire Builder and Hiawatha Service, as well as commuter trains operated on part of Metra's Milwaukee District/North Line into Chicago. The Union Pacific Railroad operates their Milwaukee Subdivision, a former Chicago and North Western line, parallel to this route just to the east. From Chicago Union Station to Pacific Junction, it is triple tracked and primarily hosts Amtrak and Metra trains as freight trains are generally not allowed to go further south of Pacific Junction unless they are reversing to get on to the Belt Railway of Chicago at Cragin Junction. From Pacific Junction to Milwaukee, it is double tracked. The Wisconsin & Southern Railroad also runs freights on this line via trackage rights.

<i>Varsity</i> (train)

The Varsity was a passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad over a 140-mile route between Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin.

The Fox Lake Subdivision is a railway line in the state of Illinois in the United States. It runs 17.5 miles (28.2 km) from a junction with the C&M Subdivision of the Canadian Pacific Railway at Rondout, Illinois, to a junction with the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad at Fox Lake, Illinois. Metra, the commuter rail authority for the Chicago area, owns and operates the line. The line hosts Milwaukee District / North Line commuter trains. The line is part of the former Milwaukee Road route between Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin & Southern owns the portion between Fox Lake and Janesville, Wisconsin, and has trackage rights over the Metra portion. The tracks north of Metra's Fox Lake station host exclusively freight traffic.

References

  1. "Milwaukee District North Line Weekday Ridership". Regional Transportation Authority Mapping and Statistics (RTAMS). Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  2. "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009.
  3. "Metra Milwaukee District North Line" (PDF). Metra . Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  4. "Metra to begin reverse-commute service from Chicago to Lake County". Progressive Railroading. February 22, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  5. Metra Railfan Tips - Milwaukee District/North Line
  6. Chicago's Lost Stations - Milwaukee Road Suburban Service; North Timetable (November 14, 1971)
  7. Chicago's Lost Stations - Milwaukee Road Chicago-Fox Lake
  8. "Wadsworth Extension Commuter Rail Feasibility Study" (PDF). Metra . Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  9. "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2018" (PDF). Metra. p. 4. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  10. "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2019" (PDF). Metra. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  11. "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2020" (PDF). Retrieved 2021-04-04.

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